Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Zumba Fitness Game for the Wii: A review

I started going to Zumba classes 2 months ago after hearing so much about it from friends and also after being asked if I wanted to review the game for the Wii. I love dance and have tried almost every type of dance throughout the years but I mainly wanted to do Zumba to get my fitness up.

I love the class I go to. Zumba is a mix of Latin, Reggaeton, Hip-hop and more! That is what I love about it, you can be doing salsa in one routine and bollywood moves in another. It is great fun!

Zumba Fitness for the Wii:

The game itself is very easy to use. You set up a profile, which basically consists of putting your name in. This seems a shame to me, as I thought I was going to be able to customise the character on the screen but it is simple and fuss free never the less. So perhaps that is what they were going for.

After you have your profile you can do a dance class or you can go straight into a routine. You have a waist belt/strap which you slot the Wii control into so it can monitor your movements. There are lots of different routines to choose from and are labelled basic, intermediate or expert.

When you are doing the movements/dance routine correctly the figure on the screen glows green otherwise it goes from yellow to red to show you are way off! You gain points and can unlock different dance settings etc as you build them up.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed trying out this game and doing the routines, it is particularly good for people who do not go to a Zumba class. However I did find it a bit frustrating.

I like to think I am a reasonable dancer and I certainly know how to do the basics like salsa, yet this game did not pick up my moves very well and there is little direction for people who don't know the moves already. There are no verbal cues on the routines and so you just have to watch and learn and try and keep up.

When I really shook my hips it picked up this as a move, the figure on the screen glowed green (to show I was doing it correctly) and I got points, when it really could have been any move. My point is I could stand still shaking my hips for a 5 minute routine and even do the funky chicken and get more points then had I done it perfectly. I think there is only so much movement a Wii controller in a waist belt can pick up perhaps?

That said, I am competitive and do like to perfect moves, but for those who don't take dance seriously and just want a bit of a laugh with friends (there is a multiplayer option) then this is the game for you.

One final criticism of this game is that it feels half finished. With your points you can unlock levels and dance in different scenery, with the 'best' one being a rooftop scene. Now I am sure this would be amazing had the view and graphics been good but it felt like a bit of an anticlimax. Also the dancers behind the main character are simply clones and again rather boring.

All that said, this game is classed as a 'fitness game' so in that respect it fulfills its title but as a 'Zumba' game it really leaves a lot to be desired, for me. My Zumba instructor is going to be trying the game out soon and so I will be interested to hear her take on it. I would certainly be interested in trying out the Kinect version to see if it picks up moves better than the Wii.

You can follow Zumba Fitness on Facebook here
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The Zumba Fitness game for the Wii retails from £27.99.

Zumba Fitness is also available for Playstation 3 and Kinect for Xbox 360 platforms, RRP £39.99.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this fitness game in return for a review